What Are the Health

Benefits of Climbing
Stairs?
By C.H. BodianUpdated May 28, 2019
Reviewed by Lisa Maloney, CPT

One of the greatest benefits of climbing stairs may very well be its
convenience. Staircases are often easily accessible and climbing them
doesn't cost a penny. No pricey membership needed, and no equipment
necessary. And convenience is just the tip of the iceberg. Stair climbing can
lead to better heart and lung function; healthier bones, muscles and joints;
and a slimmer figure.

Tip

Climbing stairs can improve overall health, boosting the immune system and
decreasing the risk of certain diseases.

Read more: What Does Stair Climbing Do For Your Body?

Benefits of Taking the Stairs

According to Duke University, climbing stairs requires around 8 to 11

kilocalories of energy per minute, a high amount compared to other forms of
moderate-level exercise.
In fact, walking up stairs can be twice as taxing as brisk walking and 50
percent more difficult than lifting weights or walking up a steep incline. In
addition, peak exertion is attained at a quicker rate than by just walking, which
explains the labored breathing after only a few flights up.
Increases Heart and Lung Function

Climbing stairs can strengthen your heart and lungs, allowing you to take in
more oxygen and replenish your muscles with oxygen-rich blood. Over time,
an increase in heart and lung function can improve your overall endurance.
One 2019 study, published in the journal of Applied Physiology, Nutrition and
Metabolism, found that just a few minutes of stair climbing in short intervals
throughout the day can boost cardiovascular health.

Healthy Bones, Muscles and Joints

Trekking up stairs can improve bone, muscle and joint function. Not only will it
help to build strong and lean leg muscles from engaging your glutes, calves,
quadriceps and hamstrings, but it will also strengthen your bones and reduce
the risk of osteoporosis.
In citing the benefits of taking the stairs, Duke University notes a strong
correlation between stair climbing and bone density in postmenopausal
women. In a 2018 study in Menopause, researchers also found that climbing
stairs led to a reduction in arterial stiffness in postmenopausal women with
stage 2 hypertension.
Read more: Does Stair Climbing Build Muscle?

Calorie Burner and Health Booster

This may seem like an obvious benefit: Stair climbing can help you burn
calories. As a matter of fact, according to Harvard Health Publishing, even at a
slow pace, you'll burn calories three times faster climbing stairs than walking
on a level surface.
After learning about the various benefits of taking the stairs, it's no surprise
that this physical activity can improve your overall health, reducing the risk of
diseases such as diabetes, colon cancer, hypertension, and more,
while strengthening your immune system.
Furthermore, regular cardiovascular exercise can lower your risk of
developing chronic health problems such as high blood pressure and Type 2
diabetes.
Climbing stairs can also improve the amount of good cholesterol in the blood.
There's no doubt that taking advantage of the nearest staircase can have its
health benefits.

“In order for man to succeed in life, God provided two means, education and physical activity.
Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and
methodical physical exercise can save it and preserve it.” --Plato, 400 B.C.

Need a good reason to take the stairs? Here are six of them.

1. Stair Climbing Burns More Calories Than Jogging

Yes, it’s true: studies have shown that stair climbing, which is considered vigorous-intensity
physical activity, burns more calories per minute than jogging. One company, StepJockey, which
is funded by the United Kingdom Department of Health and has as its sole mission the goal of
getting everyone to take the stairs whenever and wherever possible, notes that stair climbing
expends 8 to 9 times more energy than sitting and about 7 times more energy than taking the
elevator. As an added bonus, you burn calories not only on the way up but also while going
down the stairs! It is estimated that the average individual will burn at least 0.1 calories for every
step she climbs (so, at least 1 calorie for every 10 steps ascended) and 0.05 calories for every
step descended (so, 1 calorie for every 20 steps on the way down). Perhaps even more
encouraging to those who are already struggling with overweight or obesity: the more you
weigh, the more calories you burn when stair climbing.

2. Stair Climbing Reduces the Risk of Stroke

According to results from the Harvard Alumni Health Study, which enrolled over 11,000 men,
physical activity such as climbing stairs can reduce the risk of stroke. For instance, in men who
reported climbing the equivalent of 3 to 5 flights per day, there was a 29 percent reduction in
their risk of stroke over the long term—and that was in addition to any benefits they may have
had from other forms of regular exercise.
3. Stair Climbing Improves Cardiovascular Fitness
By virtue of being a form of vigorous exercise, stair climbing improves cardiovascular fitness—
and, thus, cardiovascular health over the long term. Decades of research has shown that regular
exercise improves cardiovascular fitness and can help prevent cardiovascular disease. Even
adding just 15 minutes a day of aerobic physical activity to a previously sedentary lifestyle can
increase healthy longevity by as much as three years!

4. Stair Climbing Strengthens Muscles

Think about what it takes to climb the stairs. All the muscles in your legs, plus activating your
abs, plus moving and perhaps pumping your arms—not to mention activating the muscles in
your back. All of that translates into a stronger and healthier musculoskeletal system. And, since
using skeletal muscle helps increase metabolism, that can translate into even more calories
burned (and more weight lost) over the long run as lean muscle mass increases and muscle tone
improves. Research has shown that using skeletal muscle also has a tremendous effect on
improving blood sugar, which has implications for preventing and managing diabetes.
Additionally, improving overall musculoskeletal health can help with arthritis pain, which tends
to plague those who struggle with obesity as well.

5. Stair Climbing Is an Easy Way to Combat a Sedentary Lifestyle

A great deal of research points to the all-too-common sedentary lifestyle of today’s
technologically advanced world as a major contributing factor to the global obesity epidemic.
Taking the stairs whenever possible is a quick and easy way to break out of that sedentary
lifestyle and add more physical activity and movement to your everyday life. The stairs are often
right there in front of you, and so it can be a lot easier just to take the stairs than to get to the gym
or get to the sports field.

6. You Don’t Have to Listen to Elevator Music

You can run a 5k but running up a couple of flights of stairs tires you out? You can squat heavy
and lunge with weights, yet walking up a couple of flights of steps makes it feel like a whole
other workout? Here’s a workout that can actually challenge your body, endurance and actual
strength and stamina

Climbing stairs is one of the best exercises when it comes to pure FAT BURN, strengthening the
lower body, toning the butt, thighs, calves, losing inches from those love handles and belly as
well as building great abs. Along with these benefits, it is the immense good it does for your
lungs and CardioVascular System.

Why Should You Choose Stairs?

 It is totally free and just about all of us can get access to a set of stairs
 It leverages gravity and the heavier we are, the harder we’re forced to work and the more
calories we burn
 It is a relatively intense exercise that quickly increases our heart rate and in doing so, can greatly
improve our cardiovascular fitness
 It helps strengthen and shape our most common problem areas like calves, thighs, buttocks and
tummy
 It is a very efficient way of burning maximum calories and is great for those of us with limited
time to exercise
 It can easily be mixed with other exercises like walking, skipping and weight training to maximize
results. Stair climbing workouts are easy to build progression into
 It can be done by almost anyone, regardless of fitness level
 Because it is weight bearing, it helps build bone strength
 It is low impact and safe for the knees, provided the correct technique is used and a pre-existing
condition doesn’t exist

The way forward with exercise is quality over quantity. Too many people fix a ‘one hour’
workout in their mind and if they can’t find time for that ‘1 hour’, they just don’t do it.

Aim for power workouts, 25 to 30 mins max, where you max out your reps, burn those muscles
and really get your heart rate up. 35 to 40 minutes should include a great warm up and an
extremely important cool down.

You can burn more calories walking/running up steps in 30 mins than a 1 hour run or walk, plus
it challenges your body.

Start off with a couple of flights, walk and run slowly. As you get better, run and then skip 2
steps at a time and run or walk.

In a nutshell. Walking:

 Burns More Calories

Stair climbing engages your body’s largest muscle groups to repeatedly lift your body weight up,
step after step. Thus, using your muscles to carry your own weight is far higher to running as
compared
 Maximizes Your Cardio Efforts
It also raises your heart rate immediately, thus, maximizing your cardio benefits
  Increases Core Muscle Strength
Climbing stairs is a great way to amp your core muscle strength
 Tones & Sculpts Your Body
It also engages every major muscle in your lower body — glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, abs and
calves to exercise and thus tones your body better
 Low Impact Workout
You don’t have to ideally sweat it out while climbing stairs. Just a few stairs every day will give
you a good workou

Safety First

Never run down the stairs, be confident while running up and take a break when needed.

Start doing this regularly and soon, you will be running up flights of stairs, feeling fitter,
younger, stronger and leaner.

ABOUT LUKE COUTINHO

Head Nutritionist and Master Coach, motivational speaker, published Author of ‘Eat Smart,
Move More, Sleep Right – Your personal health coach’, sold globally, Luke has been involved in
nutrition and fitness even since he graduated from IHM with specialization in food science and
nutrition. Luke is an ‘International Collaborator ‘with the University of Yale, Griffin –
Prevention research center, CT, U.S.A and practices in the field of nutrition, health, preventive
and alternative treatment. Luke speaks at forums like the YPO, WPO, EO, etc worldwide on
disease, nutrition, fitness and lifestyle. He encourages and helps people steer away from
conventional medicine and uses natural foods. He believes in a lifestyle change and helps and
coaches people to make ‘shifts in their lifestyles to achieve their health goals.

Benefits of Taking the Stairs

Enjoy the benefits of taking the stairs everyday:

 No special equipment is needed

  Stair climbing can be accumulated across the course of the day,
making a significant contribution to the recommended 30 minutes of
daily physical activity
 There is a significantly lower risk of mortality when climbing more than
55 flights per week
 Stair climbing requires about 8 - 11kcal of energy per minute, which is
high compared to other moderate level physical activities.
 Active stair climbers are more fit and have a higher aerobic capacity
 Even two flights of stairs climbed per day can lead to 6 lbs of weight
loss over one year
 There is a strong association between stair climbing and bone density
in post-menopausal women
 Climbing stairs can improve the amount of "good cholesterol" in the
blood
 Stair climbing increases leg power and may be an important priority in
reducing the risk of injury from falls in the elderly
 Stair climbing can help you achieve and maintain a healthy body
weight
 Stair climbing can help you build and maintain healthy bones, muscles
and joints.

Benefits of Taking the Stairs

Enjoy the benefits of taking the stairs everyday:

 No special equipment is needed

 Stair climbing can be accumulated across the course of the day,
making a significant contribution to the recommended 30 minutes of
daily physical activity
 There is a significantly lower risk of mortality when climbing more than
55 flights per week
 Stair climbing requires about 8 - 11kcal of energy per minute, which is
high compared to other moderate level physical activities.
 Active stair climbers are more fit and have a higher aerobic capacity
 Even two flights of stairs climbed per day can lead to 6 lbs of weight
loss over one year
 There is a strong association between stair climbing and bone density
in post-menopausal women
 Climbing stairs can improve the amount of "good cholesterol" in the
blood
 Stair climbing increases leg power and may be an important priority in
reducing the risk of injury from falls in the elderly
 Stair climbing can help you achieve and maintain a healthy body
weight
 Stair climbing can help you build and maintain healthy bones, muscles
and joints.